


sonorous war cry

by Woofemus



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Gen, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 01:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10911480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woofemus/pseuds/Woofemus
Summary: Edna slowly looks over at him, and he can see it, that small glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Will you promise me? Will you help my brother?”





	sonorous war cry

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by ~~bad ideas~~ [this](http://iguanamouth.tumblr.com/post/156509268247/ive-been-real-sad-the-last-bunch-of-days-so-i-drew) and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxn56l9WcU)

Dragons are no joke, Sorey immediately learns when the domain overtakes him. The beast in front of him is _giant,_ almost as big as the statue he’s seen inside the ruins back home in Elysia. _And_ it has wings! He’d be a little jealous, if it wasn’t glaring at him and looking ready to eat him up in one go. The domain it’s exuding is suffocating, thick, heavy, even worse than the malevolence in Ladylake.

He knows it’s a bad sign. They have to get out of here _now._

“Edna, what happened to you?!” Lailah cries out, hand reaching out as if to touch the dragon. Sorey and Mikleo share alarmed glances, bodies tense as they ready to dart forward to grab Lailah, who looks like she’s on the verge of weeping. Domain of a dragon or not, Sorey isn’t sure what to do when there’s a lady about to cry. His books didn’t prepare him for _that._

“Who’s turned into a dragon?”

Sorey blinks, and there’s suddenly a tiny girl right in front of them, an umbrella in her hands, an expression that he can only describe as both bored and annoyed. Which is really the complete opposite Lailah has on right now, as she claps her hands together and has the most relieved expression Sorey’s ever seen on anyone.

But she’s a seraph, and not just _any_ seraph, but an _earth_ seraph, just what they've been looking for. 

“Edna! You’re not a dragon!” The sheer relief in Lailah’s voice makes Sorey almost smile, even with a huge dragon looming over them.

“Of course not.” The earth seraph—Edna, deepens her annoyed expression. “My brother’s one though, and if you want to stay alive, I suggest you start running right now.”

For all the urgency her words demand, Edna only brushes right past them to walk at a leisure pace. Earth seraphim are much more relaxed than they seem, he can’t help but think.

The dragon roars in that moment, a roar as loud as a clap of thunder summoned by Gramps, if not more menacing.

“We can’t fight this dragon yet,” Lailah says, tugging on both his and Mikleo’s sleeves to pull them away. They don’t need any other encouragement, as they race back down the mountain path. The dragon oddly doesn’t follow them, but that’s a blessing, Sorey thinks.  

Edna’s waiting for them in the middle of the road, twirling the umbrella. Why an umbrella though? Sorey wonders if she’ll even answer his question if he asks. Probably not.

“Edna! I’m so glad you’re not a dragon!” Lailah cries out again, running faster than both him and Mikleo down the path to throw her arms around the earth seraph, who doesn’t even seem fazed, only a little annoyed. Sorey scratches his cheek nervously as he watches the entire thing, wondering how far back they go. It seems like a long time. He wonders how old Lailah is.

“So, what do you want?”

Edna’s looking straight at Sorey when she asks, and he immediately straightens himself, feeling awkwardly put on spot so suddenly. “Uh, you’re an earth seraph, and we need your help building a bridge down the mountain.”

“Really.” Edna’s eyes narrow. “Humans, only asking for things when they really need them. How selfish.”

“You won’t help us then?” Mikleo frowns as he crosses his arms. Edna only shrugs before her face falls slightly. 

“My brother… he’s up here on this mountain. How am I supposed to leave him alone?”

“Then, Edna, that dragon from before… he’s your brother?” Lailah’s voice gone quieter than normal, oddly solemn now. Sorey’s not sure why Lailah sounds so… sad.

“Can’t we just purify him?” Sorey’s not exactly keen on facing off against that same dragon again but if it means helping Edna, he’s more than ready to do it. Even he can tell how sad she is, talking about her brother.

“No.” Lailah shakes her head. “A seraph, when turned into a dragon, cannot be saved, even with the flames of purification. Their malevolence is far too strong. The only way to stop him is…” she hesitates before continuing, voice softer now, “to kill him.

Sorey feels his gut sinking, like his entire world’s crashed down. Can’t be saved? Has to be killed?

That’s…

That’s not right at all, no matter what.

“The world is huge, with so many ruins and things unexplored. I’m sure if we travel, we’ll find some answer to save your brother.” Sorey finds himself saying. He absolutely refuses to believe there’s no way someone can be saved. Absolutely not! He’s become a Shepherd to help both human and seraphim, and he’s not going to let a roadblock like this stop him. The ancients had answers for everything, and he’s absolutely sure there’s going to be something he’ll find to save Edna’s brother.

Edna slowly looks over at him, and he can see it, that small glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Will you promise me? Will you help my brother?”

“Of course!” he answers without any hesitation.

“Then…” Edna closes her eyes. “Eizen!”

“E-Edna?!” Lailah has a panicked expression on her face. “Are you calling that dragon over?!”

“Of course I’m calling my brother over. How else are we supposed to help him?”

“W-wait, calling over that dragon, that’s—!” Mikleo doesn’t even finish his sentence when _it_ appears.

Standing at the very top of the path they’ve just run down from, is _it._ With beady eyes as black as darkness itself, it stares down at them. There's no mistake about the hostility it's sending toward them with its glare. It has horns on the side of its heads that curve backward, adding to its sinister look. Black scales cover its entire body, and Sorey can see a strange redness emanating from underneath them. It already looks terrifying, _and it leaps forward at them._

Except now that it’s come closer and Sorey can get a good look at it, he’s realizing that it’s actually _much_ smaller than he expected with like the _tiniest_ legs he’s ever seen on a creature and when it lands, it ends up tripping and rolling down the path. It tumbles down the road, rolling, rolling, and… rolling.

“It’s a perfect roll,” Lailah whispers from behind him.

Edna quickly closes her umbrella and reaches down, using her hands to stop its rolling. The moment it stops rolling, it springs upright and darts out in front of Edna, opens its mouth, and—

Sorey blinks, and looks over at Mikleo, who looks just as bewildered as he is.

“This is my brother, Eizen,” Edna says with all fondness in the world. “He likes pasta and alcohol.”

Sorey stares back down at the—Eizen, he corrects.

This… dragon, looks more like a dragon’s head.

_And that’s it._

There’s four stubby legs with claws, somehow supporting the entire thing. From behind, there’s what looks like a tail, completely straight and in the air. From what he remembers of lizards, it’s a sign of aggression.

Maybe? He’s not… sure if that applies to dragons. Is this even a dragon? A dragon… head. With legs.

The dragon— _Eizen_ , Sorey remembers again, looks over at them, baring his teeth. His fangs are sharp, and no matter how he looks, Sorey doesn’t want to end up near that mouth.

And then, Eizen makes a sound.

“Is… is that what he really sounds like?” Mikleo asks as he brings a hand to his mouth. Sorey knows that gesture; Mikleo’s trying hard not to laugh. “I mean, he sounds like—”

Eizen makes the sound again, a high-pitched squeak full of concentrated anger. It echoes loudly across the mountain range. Sorey swears he can hear birds flying away.

Edna narrows her eyes at Mikleo. “He says he doesn’t like you.”

“What?! How can you even tell?!”

“Huh? You can’t even understand him?” Edna’s mouth forms a thin smile. “This is why I hate dealing with kids.”

Mikleo is speechless, fuming.

“Wait, what about that other dragon?” Lailah asks. She looks just slightly less bewildered than them, not that it makes Sorey feel any better. At least someone here is taking everything much better than they are.

“That one?” Edna shrugs. “He was bullying my brother so I threw a boulder at him.” The casual way she answers almost makes Sorey want to laugh but he catches the way she subtly turns toward them, that same threat in her eyes like Gramps got whenever he told them not to venture out too far.

“R-right,” Sorey says, laughing still but nervous now. Having a boulder fall on him doesn't sound very nice.

“You can help my brother then?” Edna asks. It sounds like she’s testing them, but Sorey’s answer is still the same.

“O-of course!” No matter who or what, Sorey’s determined to find a way to save Edna’s brother. Even if… he… looks like… a dragon head. Just the head. Only the head.

With stubby feet.  

Sorey manages to hide his snort as a cough. Edna narrows her eyes, and he immediately straightens himself again, nodding furiously.

“Good. Then I’ll help you.” Edna looks over at Lailah with a raised brow. “Well? Don’t I need a sub lord pact?”

“A-ah! Right!” But before Lailah can initiate anything, Eizen darts away from them, heading down the path. Edna immediately follows after him.

"Brother!"

Eizen goes a little ways down before he suddenly trips, falling on his side. He’s trying to get back to his feet but he can’t seem to right himself, and now his stubby legs are flailing in the air. Sorey tries his hardest to hold back a second snort. Mikleo isn’t so quick but luckily, Edna doesn’t seem to hear him.

“Oh, Brother, I told you not to run like that, you always fall over when you do.” Despite the chiding in her words, Edna still sounds fond, walking quickly to help her brother up. He squeaks at her before running back down the path, and repeating the same thing over again, falling onto his side and wiggling his legs all in the air. And still, Edna only shakes her head in what Sorey can only say is love, following after him to right him again. She gives him a pat on his horn and now he's  _chirping._

Sorey and Mikleo look at each other, struggling to keep their faces still. Except Mikleo cheats, disappearing back into Sorey, and now his laughter is the only thing Sorey can hear.

“Oh, come on,” Sorey says with a groan though he has his own smile on his face, “at least wait until we get to the inn!”


End file.
